OOM: Date Night

[geeky_agent]

Chris and Jack step out of the bar, into a cold New York City night.

The first big difference from Milliways? All the noise. The sound of horns from the cars on the street, cops blowing their whistles as they direct traffic and someone down the street playing a violin come together to create their own symphony.

She pulls her wrap a little tighter around her shoulders and looks over at Jack with a smile. "Surprise."

Comments

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Well, Chloe's not down in the bar that often so she may not have gone anywhere."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, maybe. Just kind of hard to miss someone in the bar for this long."

He shakes his head. "Anyway. Not much I can do about it at the moment."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris nods and changes the subject. "Have you ever been to New York before this?"

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He nods. "Quite a few times. For work, which usually didn't leave too much time for sightseeing."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

She rests her chin on her hand. "Too bad we won't have more time, I could give you the full tour of the city."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He gives her a small smile. "Well Christmas is a month away."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"That would be nice," she says with a grin.

"One year my parents took us to Rockefeller center. We'd saw the tree all lit up and went ice skating." She pauses for a moment.

"For some reason one of my clearest memories of that outing was my dad bitching about all the tourists."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack laughs at that; somehow it doesn't surprise him. "It's weird the things we remember from childhood. I remember my Mom watching hockey and yelling at the players better than I remember a lot of Christmases."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Speaking of which, what other presents did you get for your birthday?"

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Hockey stuff from Tony and Michelle--a hockey stick, skates, and personalized L.A. Kings jersey. Angela wrote me a poem. Kim gave me slippers. Bear-shaped slippers," he says with a wry smile. Why bother hiding it when she's bound to see them anyway?

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I thought she might," Chris says with a laugh.

"The hockey stuff should be fun when the lake freezes over."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean, you thought she might?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"We were talking last week and she told me about your birthday. Thankfully. and she was the one who suggested slippers."

Beat.

"Although I suggested bunny slippers."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He smiles slyly. "You should be very glad she didn't take you up on that one."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Oh really?" Chris raises an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Sweetheart, can you imagine my reaction to receiving bunny slippers?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"That was the entire point," she smirks.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but bear slippers are at least slightly more macho."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Moreso than a charm bracelet.

"Of course they are."

The server comes by to collect their plates and hands them another menu for the first course, dinner and wine.

Considering all the things on Chris' mind, she's really interested in the wine section right now.

"Did Angela say anything else about the future?"

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Not really, just...well, a few things about her biological mother that have me kind of worried," he says, frowning at his menu.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

He'd tell me if she had mentioned it to him...Right?

Somehow, Chris is thinking "no".

"What things?"

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Just...she doesn't sound supportive. Or responsible. I think Angela's kind of desperate for her mother to show that she cares about her. And it's doing a number on her self-esteem."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris frowns. "Sounds like she's going through a rough time."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, and I'm not sure what to say to help. Other than remind her that I love her, which she kind of expects me to say, because what else is her grandfather going to tell her?"

He looks up at her with a small smile. "She said she really liked you, though. I take it you two have talked?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure it still helps to hear."

Chris looks at the menu, realizing she's been reading the same entry over and over again during this conversation.

"Yeah. We did. Have you ever had butternut squash soup? It's funny, all the entrees sound delicious but some of these first courses..."